After Walden, Thoreau works as a surveyor, scientist, and abolitionist, and travels to Cape Cod and Maine as a lifelong illness catches up with him.

Thoreau lives at Walden Pond for two years, where he writes two books, travels to Maine, and gets arrested in an act of civil disobedience.

A young Thoreau pursues a career as an author. Disheartened, he retreats to a cabin in the woods to live simply, deliberately—and write.